Monday, November 30, 2015

(There is another work in the exhibition which I was asked not to photograph, for copyright reasons. Which was sad, as it was one of my favourites. But thanks to the power of the interwebs, you can see Kendal Murray's Produce Goose, On The Loose here, and more of her work here.)

And if you'd like to view the whole of the short film The traveller by Anna Glynn, you can do so here.

An exhibition of works particularly for children but also suitable for adults in need of a little nostalgia in the lead up to Christmas. From original book illustrations to colourful sculptures and hand-made wooden toys by local Goulburn Woodworkers, there's something in the toybox to delight everybody.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

I've been to Goulburn Regional Art Gallery three times in the last three days. That's a 177 km (110 mile) round trip each time (probably more, if you take the train as I did yesterday).

I even dressed up for the opening!

But now I'm a little bit stuffed, and a little bit grumpy, as my phone doesn't seem to want to save the photos I think I've taken.So I'll probably spend tomorrow's digital sabbath in bed, and tell you more about the opening and the exhibition on Monday...

An exhibition of works particularly for children but also suitable for adults in need of a little nostalgia in the lead up to Christmas. From original book illustrations to colourful sculptures and hand-made wooden toys by local Goulburn Woodworkers, there's something in the toybox to delight everybody.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Yep, that's me. Posing next to my completed builds at Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, in readiness for tomorrow night's opening of the What's in the toybox? exhibition.But here's where it all started two and a half hours earlier, when I arrived after a one-hour drive from Canberra:

I'd dropped my 'work*' off last Friday and knew at the time that I'd need to make another trip to put it all together before the opening.Lovely Goulburn Regional Art Gallery had my plinth and perspex case in place, a table ready for me to work on, and...

AFTERNOON TEA!

(That was a bit special and unexpected. I now want to be in every exhibition they mount.)At 3 pm I was a bit worried.

An exhibition of works particularly for children but also suitable for adults in need of a little nostalgia in the lead up to Christmas. From original book illustrations to colourful sculptures and hand-made wooden toys by local Goulburn Woodworkers, there's something in the toybox to delight everybody.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Just as I was starting to think that today's blog post would involve pictures of paint drying (and how exciting is that?), I checked the mail and found a package from Kitty and Kat Miniatures waiting for me. (How lucky am I? It's the second good mail day I've had in less than a week...)

The package was full of goodness: some small scrapbooking sheets,

a selection of design books (made by Kat),

a tiny gnome figure,

and some lovely blue pottery.

Also included were two packages of tinsel (also made by Kat), a magnifying glass, a letter A for my collection and a thumbtack wall piece.Thanks Kat! I can't wait until I have the time and head space to start making scenes again so I can use some of these...

So much so that I ventured into the next step: building the pergolas for the sides.

The first trial is bodged together with bits from the kit that I don't think I'll be using, just to get an idea of size.

Ideally, I think the pergolas should be double the width, so my writers can sit outside when it's raining without getting wet, and even move their desk onto it on fine days, if they feel like a change of scene.*

I also cut down the centre wall to fit and was most chuffed to find that my dodgy cutting isn't so obvious when the wall's in place.

Speaking of chuffed, I returned from my weekly digital sabbath to find this in my inbox:

(*While looking at this picture of the sliding door frame installed without the doors, I suddenly saw a future version of the build with the pergolas covered in and turned into a tiny bathroom and kitchenette area. Oh dear. I'd better forget that idea as quickly as I thought of it...)

Saturday, November 21, 2015

When I visited James at Victorian Dollhouses last weekend to buy some tile sheet to complete the build for the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery exhibition, I mentioned that my next step was to get the front windows cut at my favourite perspex place. His wife, Ann, said that if I popped down this weekend she could do it for me.

Who was I to resist such an invitation?

As I put the pieces of the kit together so she could see what I was working on, I had a bit of a whoopsie:

We then got down to the nitty gritty of working out exactly what I wanted, and as Ann realised I had no idea what I was doing, she drew me a diagram of how to design a window to support the perspex.

And suggested I should build the front first and then she could cut the perspex to fit my windows, rather than my original plan which was to cut the perspex then build the front around it.

After some more discussion we decided that the safest approach would be to cut a piece of perspex to cover the entire front, then build the walls and window frames onto it.She introduced me to her Olfa p-cutter, which cuts perspex quickly and cleanly.

And, before too long, she had measured.

scored,

and split

a piece of perspex that fitted the front perfectly.

For me, it was another moment of 'Gosh, things are easy when you know what you're doing'.#HBSCreatinContest2015

Friday, November 20, 2015

This morning was a mad dash to complete my twoscenes before I was picked up by a friend to deliver them to Goulburn Regional Art Gallery for their 'What's in the toybox' exhibition, which opens next week.

As usual after a major project, my studio is in complete chaos.

And, even worse, have a large cutting mat and tools in the middle of my kitchen floor: I found myself moving from over-crowded spot to over-crowded spot in search of somewhere to finish the next part of the work before the deadline.

We drove through 40 degree (104 Fahrenheit, for those on the other side of the world) heat* to reach the gallery, and were diverted off the highway because of a grass fire*, but it was worth it to spy this at the entrance:

Once I got home and did some research on the artist, Ronnie van Hout, I was delighted to discover that he is not only a fellow kiwi, but that he also created 'Fallen robot', one of my favourite sculptures in Lower Hutt, New Zealand...

High on my agenda for the next couple of days is some serious down time (possibly including some TV-series binge watching) and napping, hopefully not at the same time. And some major house cleaning and organising.

An exhibition of works particularly for children but also suitable for adults in need of a little nostalgia in the lead up to Christmas. From original book illustrations to colourful sculptures and hand-made wooden toys by local Goulburn Woodworkers, there's something in the toybox to delight everybody.

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